If you refuse a bag search at a WMATA subway station, Metro Transit Police may follow you if you leave and even if you board a bus. That’s what happened to me Tuesday morning in Shaw.
I entered the Shaw Metro station with a bag containing my lunch and my laptop. An officer waved me aside on the north mezzanine and told me to put my bag on the table for inspection. Stunned that I was… Keep reading…

On Saturday, in the temple to America’s greatest defender of freedom, Thomas Jefferson, the US Park Police arrested several people who had gathered to quietly dance.
In 2008, Mary Oberwetter and some other people gathered to silently dance to celebrate Jefferson’s birthday one night. Park Police told them to stop, and when Oberwetter refused, she was arrested. Keep reading…

To most riders, WMATA’s bag search policy is intuitively foolish. But, as statements at recent Riders’ Advisory Council meetings make clear, within the mindset of the Metro Transit Police (MTPD), they’re entirely logical. This is another example of how silos inside WMATA lead to bad decisions.
Last night, Chief Taborn echoed the statements of his underlings… Keep reading…

Over 100 people packed a hearing room at WMATA headquarters last night for a Riders’ Advisory Council meeting about the random bag searches Metro instituted in December. Police representatives explained the basic facts of the program in the face of over 30 often-impassioned arguments against the program.
As Bob “Dr. Gridlock” Thomson tweeted, the crowd… Keep reading…

Tonight, the WMATA Riders’ Advisory Council is holding a public meeting to discuss the controversial bag search program launched without public discussion in December.
I’ll be chairing the meeting, which starts at 6:30 pm sharp at WMATA HQ, 600 5th Street, NW in the committee room (past security, left and then right.) The meeting will start with public comment,… Keep reading…